


Wizards in Space

by Kefalion



Series: All About Harry [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 04:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/770183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kefalion/pseuds/Kefalion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year 2130, almost thirty years before the First Contact War, an 150 year old Harry Potter creates his own space-ship and leaves Earth, wanting to have one last adventure. Out there in space, he meets and saves a 53 year young Liara T'Soni from Turian pirates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wizards in Space

Harry was gazing out through the large window on portside observation deck. He saw stars swishing by outside and sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

They had been out there for six years now and they had yet to find anything. They had all been so sure that once they could move past their own star system they would be able to find intelligent life and if not that, then life, or at the very least a planet with liquid water. But nothing. Only stars, lifeless rocks and gas balls.

Harry had gotten involved in the magical space program after a fire that took the life of his wife Ginny and his daughter Lily's entire family. It had hit him hard, which was unsurprising. Anyone would get depressed, when the person they've shared their life with for over a century no longer is by your side. And the death of a child is always hard to take.

He had resigned as Head Auror, left all his duties as Head of House Potter and Black to his sons. Then he isolated himself in a small house by the coast and waited to join the family he had lost. He didn't have much left to live for. His children and their children in turn were all grown up, not needing him any more. He had seen the world and lived through so much. It was enough and he figured it was his turn to finally know peace.

It was Hermione who eventually dragged him out of his depression. After two years she had gotten enough of his moping and frankly told him that he may be 134 years old, but that wasn't all that old for a wizard. She bombarded him with statistics in true Hermione fashion and made clear that he could probably expect to live at least another fifty years, and she convinced him that he should do something with them.

She herself had gotten involved in a space program a few years back and she was adamant that he join in as well, if only so that she could keep an eye on him.

Wizards had never tried to go into space before, but as the muggles progressed, making leaps and bounds the wizarding community gained interest in what lay beyond the earth as well.

When the first permanent settlement on Mars was established in 2103 the wizards across the globe understood that they needed to advance as well unless they were to be left behind in the dust.

Magic was a great advantage in this endeavour. A new element called Element Zero, or eezo had been discovered. It had amazing properties when it came to storing, leading and magnifying magical power. New theories also said that it was eezo which powered the magical cores in wizards.

In just a few short years wizards had advanced beyond anything the muggles could imagine. Faster than light travel and apparition over galactic distances was made possible, and time dilation was no longer an issue, neither when it came to travelling or sending information.

The wizards started with exploring their own star system before a project was launched which would take wizarding kind farther out into the galaxy in search of life.

Five ships had been built and sent out on reconnaissance. They were named after the five stars closest to the sun. There were ICWSE Centauri, ICWSS Barnarad, ICWSE Wolf, ICWSE Lalande and ICWSE Sirius which Harry was captain of. ICWSS stood for; International Confederation of Wizards Star Explorer. Harry was also in command of the five ships if it came down to a joint effort and had the title of Admiral.

Harry had thought that he would be able to experience one last great adventure before starting on the one in the after life, and so far; nothing.

He ran a hand through his now silvery-gray hair, and continued to stare out through the window, observing nebulas and galaxies with a sense of detachment.

"Admiral?"

"What is it, Walsh?" Harry perked up as he heard the voice of David Walsh, through the ship's communication system.

Walsh was an American wizard, who was onboard in capacity of ambassador and scientist. He had a working knowledge of every language and culture of earth, magical or mundane, making him a valuable member of the crew.

"Could you come to the bridge ASAP?"

"Is something going on?"

"Yeah, well… You better just get here."

"I'm on my way." Harry hurried through the ship, just nodding his head at the people he met, not stopping to chat as he usually did.

"What's going on?" He asked as he came up to Walsh who was standing with his hands on the back of the pilot's chair.

"Good that you're here, sir. We think we've discovered a distress signal."

"Is it from one of our ships? Have they run into trouble?"

"No, I don't think so. Definitely not. It's from an unknown channel. Patch it through, Joshi."

"Right away." The pilot Aditi Joshi patched through the signal.

Static buzzed through the speakers, then they could hear a melodious voice which by their standards sounded female. The language "she" spoke sounded nothing like any language from earth. If this being was communicating in a manner resembling theirs, Harry would have to say that "she" indeed sounded distressed.

"Did we record that?" He asked once it was cut off.

"Yes, sir."

"Will we be able to translate it?"

Walsh cast a couple of diagnostic spells, reading through the results. "We should be able to. I've started the process, so the systems are now working on it. As far as I can tell, the speech pattern follows a basic structure, which we should be able to interpret fairly easily. I think we'll have a translation within the next hour or so."

"Alright. Keep a look out for anything; we don't want to run into anything unawares. We don't know if these aliens are friendly or not. Increase the readiness to a level four and activate the stealth systems. And alert our sister ships and headquarters."

"Aye, aye."

**-ICWSE Sirius-**

The science team of the crew together with Harry and his next in command Lt. Fredrick Shacklebolt, who indeed was related to Kingsley, were gathered in the conference room. They had a direct connection open to the other ships and headquarters back on earth.

The communication system was highly advanced, allowing them to act as if they were all in the same room, sitting around a conference table, while their corporal bodies remained aboard the ship or on earth respectively.

The tension was running high, as everyone was brimming with excitement. This was the first major discovery they had made, and it would determine the rest of wizardingkind's progress in space.

"Alright. We all know why we're here, "Harry opened up the meeting. "We received the signals of a distress beacon, and there was a message with it that came out as audio. During the two hours since we received it our systems have completed a translation. Walsh, start the recording."

Walsh, waved his wand and the sound came on. Once again it started with static, then they could all here a woman's voice.

"My Name is Liara T'Soni. I was onboard a cruiser which was travelling from Thessia to the Citadel. On the way our ship was attacked by Turian Pirates. They took all the cargo, and they took me hostage after they found out that my mother is Matriarch Benezia. We are somewhere in the Exodus Cluster in orbit around a red dwarf star. They seem to be waiting for something, I don't know what. If you receive this I am in desperate need of help. I've activated a distress beacon. I don't know how long it will take the Turians to notice..." The message was cut off, ending in more static.

While everyone was looking at each other in awed silence Harry went straight to business. "Do we have a read on that beacon?"

"Sir?" Walsh looked sceptic.

"Harry, what are you thinking?" That was Hermione, managing to berate her friend even at light-years distance. Though her hair had turned gray, same as Harry's, and wrinkles lined her face, she had no problem giving him the same disapproving glare as she had every time Harry was about to do something stupid, ever since Harry had taken off on his broom to chase after Malfoy during flying class their first year at Hogwarts.

"Do we have a read or not?" Harry demanded of Walsh, ignoring Hermione for now.

"Yes, we do."

"Joshi, set a course for these coordinates." Harry commanded the ships pilot, simultaneously forwarding the coordinates.

"Roger that."

"Readiness increased to level five."

"Yes, sir," Shacklebolt answered and forwarded the order to the four other Captains.

"Admiral Potter, you don't have the authority to-" it was the Supreme Mugwump who had spoken.

"See, sir, that is where you are mistaken," Harry said staring at the plump man who was the leader of the ICW. "Before the Star Exploration project, we wizards didn't have an army, but we do now. And you all," he stared down each member of the confederation, "gave me the highest ranking, meaning that I do not answer to you. This is a military situation, and I have the right to overrule any decisions you might make."

"Potter-"

The man was cut off. "I was head Auror of the English Ministry long before you graduated from Durmstrang. I defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort at age seventeen. I helped fund this project and was involved in every stage of it. I have been with the muggle armies in preparation for exactly this. Believe me when I say that I know what I'm doing."

"Harry-"

"No, Hermione. Yes, I know it could be a trap, but in either case we need to check it out. This is the first sign we've gotten on there being anything alive out here besides us. We have to make contact. We will approach with caution, expecting the worst. It is important for us to remember that if what Ms. T'Soni said is true we will be engaging hostiles. We will not meet the representatives of this race, but what can be described as "pirates" and as such there will most probably be battle."

"Harry this is foolish. They could be highly advanced. We know nothing about them. If you face them in battle you'll be at a disadvantage!"

Harry smirked. "Ah, now that's where you are wrong. We might know nothing about them but in turn they know nothing about us."

**-ICWSE Sirius-**

"We're leaving FTL flight in, 3… 2… 1… Stealth systems engaged. We are clear."

"Good job, Joshi." The Indian woman smiled at Harry, before she turned back to her job, manoeuvring the ship so that they came into an orbit around the red star.

"So what do you think is out there?" Shacklebolt asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Start the scanners."

"The signal is coming from the other side of the star."

"Approach."

Within moments they got a visual on a ship, it was relatively small. Not as large as the Sirius, but they didn't know what kind of firepower it packed or anything about the  _Turians_  operating it, other then that Liara T'Soni had said that they were pirates.

"Fredrick, you and I are sending in Patronuses. It should be relatively safe. We won't be making any contact until the Barnard and the Wolf get here."

"Roger that."

"Joshi, navigate us to the required distance, make sure that the stealth systems are functional at all times, if there is even the slightest chance of detection; get us out of here."

"Yes, sir."

**-ICWSE Sirius-**

Along with all the new magical inventions that had been created to operate the ships, a new use of the Patronus charm had been found. It allowed the caster to use the Patronus as his or hers eyes and ears.

Seeing through the Patronus was rather strange, and very distracting, demanding that the caster keep a high level of concentration, for at the same time as you were seeing and hearing from the Patronus point of view you were still experiencing the things going on around your body. This could be used to an advantage if you knew how.

Harry and Shacklebolt were alone in a room, which allowed them to communicate while empowering the charms.

To keep up the charm you also had to keep up the feeling of happiness at all times or the spell would go out. It didn't allow for very long range either, making the spell useless for exploration on the surface of a planet if the ship was in orbit.

The mission was a high risk one as they had to be close enough to dock with the Turian ship to keep the spell in range.

Harry and Shacklebolt had entered the ship, and had so far gone without detection.

"The first ET spotted," Shacklebolt said.

"Report."

"They walk upright; have two legs and two arms, elbows and knees, three fingers, I estimate that they are slightly taller than an average human. Two eyes, mandibles, a large, what's the word? Carapace? They are wearing full-body-armour and are carrying what appear to be fire arms."

"I've got a visual." And Harry watched this being, two of them were walking down a hallway, conversing using verbal communication. "They communicate verbally. And use hand gestures to enhance the speech."

Everything he and Shacklebolt said was being forwarded to the science team, who recorded any findings.

"The atmosphere aboard this vessel is air, although it is impossible to say using the Patronus what the concentrations of the elements are. The same goes for how much gravity they are using."

"Sir, I've reached the drive-core. From what I can tell they are using a fusion of eezo and iridium."

"Any signs of T'Soni?"

"Negative."

"Alright, stay out of sight and keep looking."

Harry searched through the ship slowly, avoiding any patrols or crew members. The Patronus didn't make any sounds, so the only thing that would alert the extra terrestrials as to his and Shacklebolt's presence was if they were spotted, not that it didn't make things hard enough, a bright glowing stag and an equally luminous brown bear weren't exactly inconspicuous.

Harry passed through the CIC, timing when the Turians were looking his way and then he went to the crew deck, while Shacklebolt was searching through the lower levels, including the loading deck, and the storage space.

It was upon entering a separate quarter that Harry was detected. A pair of intense, cerulean blue eyes looked right at him. They were staring out from a face that almost looked human. This being wasn't like the rest of the crew. She, for that was what Harry thought upon seeing her, resembled a human female, in facial structure and body type.

The differences between a human and this being were that she lacked hair, instead there were some sort of structure, forming ridges from the top of her head to the back of her scull, and her skin was blue, just like her eyes.

Harry had no doubt that this was Ms. T'Soni.

"Target located."

"Affirmative. How should we progress?"

"Let go of the spell." Harry ordered while he himself lingered, taking in this being. The room they were in had one door, which was closed shut. There was a bed, or what Harry supposed was one. He was finding it rather disconcerting how alike these intelligent beings were to humans.

Walking upright, breathing air, communicating with speech, using space flight, weapons and now there was a bed and a desk with a chair to add to the list of similarities.

Liara sat immovable on the chair, gazing intently at him, then she begun to speak, he couldn't understand what she was saying, but the words rang with cautious hope. She got up; moving slowly, cautiously, but there was more to it. She was limping, a hand coming to rest at her side, her face scrunching up in a universal gesture of pain.

He bowed his head, trying to show that he came in peace, and then he spoke softly, knowing that she wouldn't understand, but trying to convey a message in any case.

"Hello, Liara T'Soni," he began and she perked up as she heard her name also letting Harry know that this indeed was the person who he was looking for. "We received your distress call and we will do our best to rescue you. We are just waiting for back up. I'll return shortly and bring you back to our ship."

She listened attentively, although he could see in her eyes that she couldn't understand him, she seemed to calm somewhat at this soothing tone.

And that's when things went to hell. The door slammed open and one of the Turians stood on the other side. It had a shotgun pointed at Liara and he screamed something at her, then he saw Harry and started shooting.

Harry let go of the spell, and gasping he was fully back onboard the Sirius.

"Change of plans. I'm getting her. I'll apparate back to the decontamination chamber."

"Sir-"

Harry didn't hear any more. His wand was in his hand, the spells which would allow him to operate safely in any environment activated and then he apparated to the room where Ms. T'Soni was kept.

The situation hadn't changed much in the short moment he was away. The Turian was staring at the space where his Patronus had been, screaming some more at Liara and she covered against one of the walls, still holding a hand protectively against her side.

Harry noticed all of this within seconds, years of experience fuelling his reactions. He needed to get her out of there, but it wouldn't do if the environment aboard the Sirius was harmful to her. To gain more time he chanced casting a stunner at the Turian.

The red light hit him in the chest and he went down. Weather it had simply sedated him, or killed him Harry didn't know, and there was no time. He could hear more approaching.

Quickly he cast a few spells which diagnosed the environment; recording to the ship's archive the components of the air and the level of gravity.

Then he was at Liara's side. She looked fearfully at him. "It's alright," he said soothingly, and she blinked at him, relaxing as she perhaps recognized his voice as the same one the glowing creature from before had spoken with. "Hold on tightly, Ms. T'Soni." He grabbed her arm and apparated.

The landing wasn't smooth, both Harry's and Liara's legs crumbled under them at the impact with the floor, and the blue skinned woman, started heaving.

Harry could sympathise, apparating was hardly the most comfortable way to travel, and it was even worse when someone side-alonged you. He rubbed soothing circles on her back, hoping that the gesture meant the same to her as it would a human. She didn't flinch away from the touch so he counted it as a victory.

Simultaneously he changed the environmental conditions in the decontamination chamber to match those aboard the Turian ship.

"Admiral, Mrs. Weasly is on the line and she is demanding that I patch her through," Fredrick Shacklebolt's voice sounded through the communication system.

Harry sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that it was inevitable; Hermione would not let this go. "Patch her through, LT."

"Harry! What were you thinking? This is not how we wanted to make first contact!"

"She was in danger, Hermione. What would you have me do?"

"So all the years, sitting giving orders to hot headed young Aurors, telling them to not rush head first into trouble disappeared from your memory, leaving you fifteen year old again?" She screeched at him.

Harry winced. "I suppose when you put it that way… But could you please stop screaming for now? I have Liara here with me. She appears to be wounded. Do you know if there has been any success in creating a spell that will work as translator?"

He could hear her huffing. "Of course I know. I've been working on it together with Walsh and Zhao, it isn't perfect but it should allow some basic communication. It has been added to the ship's systems, you should be able to activate it by accessing the archives."

"Thanks, Hermione. I'll try not to cause a galactic scandal."

She huffed again. "I trust you not to,  _Admiral_." Her voice disappeared, leaving the message that he shouldn't forget what the title he had been given meant.

Now he was truly alone with Liara, the blue skinned woman, still distressed and on her knees on the floor.

Harry sighed. This could go good, or really, really bad and he was so very much hoping for the former. He was beginning to tire as well, he might still be physically fit and there had been no decline in his magic, but he was getting old, and field missions took a larger toll out of him then they used to.

He mustered some more energy from somewhere and opened the archives, easily finding and activating the translation spell.

"Liara T'Soni?" He asked. "I've activated a translation spell. Can you understand me?"

"Yes," she said softly. Under the word Harry could here another one, the one she was actually speaking. "Where am I?" Liara had turned so that she faced him. She looked tired, and scared. Harry was captivated by her intensely blue eyes. She seemed so human and seeing her scared had him thinking about his Lily when she was just a little girl. Her vulnerability made her seem young in Harry's eyes. This alien woman also shared a spark with his late daughter. Though they looked nothing alike, he got the same feeling of dedication from this Liara as he did when he had seen his little Lily overcome any hindrance that was put in her way.

"I brought you aboard my ship, the Sirius. We detected the distress call you sent out and came to investigate."

"-heard," she whispered, one or several words getting lost in the translation. "It has been days since I - distress call- That- that light? Was that you?"

"Yes. That was my Patronus. It is a defence, a way to communicate and a way to travel where it isn't safe for us to go."

"Oh…" She faltered and closed her eyes, rubbing at them with the hand which wasn't kept firmly at her side. "I'm sorry," she continued. "I'm very tired. I haven't been - much - eat. Do you - ask who - are?  _What_  - are?"

"My name is Harry. I am the captain of this ship. I am human. A wizard. We are relatively new to space flight and you're distress signal was the first sign of any life we've encountered."

"That's -" she said becoming more alert. "Usually a new species which - how to travel through space comes in contact with one of the – races."

"I need to ask you the same question. What are you?"

"I am - Asari."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. T'Soni."

"Thank - rescuing me, Harry."

"Admiral?"

"Yes, Walsh?" Harry felt exasperated; he was making progress and didn't need any interruptions. "The board is insisting that we should restrain T'Soni, use veritaserum or legilimency."

"Are they insane?" Harry exclaimed angrily, startling Liara. "We have no idea how that would affect her! It could be very harmful!"

"Harry?" Liara said fearfully. "What is- on?"

Harry sighed. How did he explain this? He didn't know how to act around Liara. His instincts told him that she meant no harm. That she was just a young girl, but his logical mind supplied that it was only him projecting his on experiences on her, that he was seeing his Lily where there was a completely different person. There was no way for him to truly know, so in that way he could understand why the board insisted on using veritaserum or legilimency.

"Liara," Harry begun, "My people are afraid. They would like me to interrogate you and find information, using methods that I fear might be harmful, but that in our experience give infallible result. Veritaserum is a substance which once consumed forces the drinker into a trance in which you can only speak the truth."

Liara's eyes grew large and her breathing sped up.

"I'm not planning on allowing that. We don't know how you would react to it; it might be poisonous to you. Legilimency could be equally harmful, though it's easier to tell right away and I could perform it myself. It allows me to enter your mind and see your memories."

Strangely enough this didn't seam to scare Liara at all, instead she relaxed and her mouth turned up at the corners making it appear as if she smiled.

"I, we Asari have a similar ability," she said. "We can meld our minds with anyone. - would allow me?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes it –" she was interrupted.

"Sir?"

"What is it now?"

Walsh sounded worried when he spoke. "Is it really wise to go through with this?"

"I haven't given her my answer yet."

"With all due respect, Harry, I and the rest of the crew already know what you will answer, we know you and are familiar with your way of reasoning."

"David, you are out of line."

"I'm sorry, sir. I only ask that you think this through."

Liara observed him quietly, but when quite some time had passed she spoke up. "We Asari have never encountered a species for which the melding of the mind has been harmful." The translation were running more smoothly now, each input of words adding to the archives, making it possible to interpret the speech more correctly. "If I detect any negative effects I will withdraw immediately."

Harry gazed at her, still encapsulated in the spells which shielded him from the atmosphere. "We don't know each other. I have no reason to trust you, as you have no reason to trust me or my crew. But if our peoples are to coexist peacefully a first step must be taken, and trust must be given freely. I choose to believe you, knowing that if you deliberately harm me, my kind will know for sure not to trust you. And if you are truthful, which my heart tells me, then we will make more progress today then cautiousness could achieve in years. What do you need me to do?"

Liara's eyes were narrowed in concentration, as she as far as Harry could tell, took in all he said. "I need you to look into my eyes. Do not break eye contact and allow me entrance."

Harry nodded. He could understand that. It was the same principles as with legilimency, and more similarities should hardly be surprising by now.

Liara got shuffled over on the floor so that they were sitting next to each other. She let go of her side, wincing some, making Harry frown, but as of yet he couldn't do anything. He didn't know how his spells would affect her.

Liara removed his glasses and gently placed her hands on each side of his face and looked him in the eyes. The cerulean colour of her irises where nowhere to be found, the entire eye was pitch-black and then her presence was in his mind.

Harry felt her enter, fumbling a bit, yet gentler then any intrusion he had ever felt before. It didn't feel like an intrusion, more like a warm balm being spread across his mind. No memories flashed before his minds eye, not at first, but then images, sound, feelings and information was being transferred not from him, but from Liara. In a matter of minutes Liara's entire knowledge of the galaxy became Harry's.

She exited his mind, just as gently as she had entered yet still fumbling, but this time he could sense that it wasn't because she was unfamiliar with the workings of the human mind, but because she was exhausted.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes once again a deep blue. No echo of other words followed showing that she was speaking English now.

"Fine. A bit overwhelmed. I… I had never imagined that all this existed."

"I can say the same. Humanity is an amazing species, with a rich history. I am honoured to have been given your trust Harry. I will do my best to keep it."

Harry smiled, knowing now that the expression would be familiar to the Asari. "And I will strive to do the same."


End file.
